


The World Beyond Those Curtains

by AnonymousSpacePrince



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Afterlife, Canonical Character Death, Fluff, M/M, Reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-15
Updated: 2017-10-15
Packaged: 2019-01-17 16:11:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12369345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnonymousSpacePrince/pseuds/AnonymousSpacePrince
Summary: He walks to the door. When he's upon it, he can hear humming from inside. It's a familiar tune. The door doesn't have a knob; it's set on hinges. Sirius pushes it open.Sirius is dead. What's there to do but catch up with an old friend like no time has passed?





	The World Beyond Those Curtains

**Author's Note:**

> i am really proud of this one. i really like the way i wrote it, and the execution compared to the composition in my head. i hope you like it as much as i do.
> 
> title is from the song _land of the living_ by roo panes

    One moment he's laughing, and the next, he's dead. It's almost like culture shock, suddenly feeling like his entire life has been rewritten. Where he was supposed to win a duel and play a role in saving his godson, instead he'd died. He's lying on the floor somewhere, he can feel it beneath him, the robes he'd been wearing in life still on him, and he feels a sadness that is unmatched by anything he ever felt while alive. It's profound.

    He's in an unfamiliar place. He sits up and realises the floor is carpet. He's in a house. The walls are blue. A light blue, like the sky just before clouds roll in. It's a nice colour. There's a beige couch nearby, and a wooden coffee table in front of it. From where he sits, Sirius can see a closed white door that undoubtedly leads to a kitchen, and there's light from beneath it.

    Sirius stands up to go investigate, but he catches sight of a mirror on the nearest wall. He steps closer and his breath- the breath that is surely residual now, not necessary- catches at his reflection. He looks young, he must be in his twenties again. His hair is clean and smooth, his face is not gaunt, there are no bags under his eyes. He looks like he never stepped foot in Azkaban.

    A soft clank draws Sirius' attention back to the probably-kitchen, so he walks to the door. When he's upon it, he can hear humming from inside. It's a familiar tune. The door doesn't have a knob; it's set on hinges. Sirius pushes it open.

    There's a man standing at the sink, his back to Sirius, filling a kettle. He's humming that familiar tune. His hair is black and sticking up in the back. Sirius gasps.

    James turns around at once, and he drops the full kettle. Before the water spills out on the floor, the kettle cleans itself up and sets up on the stove. James takes four long steps and then his arms are around Sirius, crushing in the absolute best way.

    Sirius winds his arms around James' waist and holds on just as tightly. The sadness he'd felt before melts away like an ice sculpture in a burning house. He feels like after all his years on the run, he's finally home.

    "I missed you," James whispers into his neck. The sound of his voice after so long of missing it makes Sirius' eyes fill with tears.

    "I missed you too," he whispers back, against James' hair. "So much."

    For a long time, they don't move. Sirius feels warm in James' arms, secure and safe, and he's entirely content with staying there.

    When James finally does pull back, he holds Sirius at an arm's length and looks at him with soft eyes, crinkled at the corners as he smiles. Sirius feels shocked all over again to be looking at James. He's really, actually there, standing in front of him, touching him, smiling at him just the way he used to. Sirius wants to cry but he's too happy to.

    "Are you okay?" James asks.

    "I am now," Sirius says, and it's the truth.

    James' smile turns a bit less soft and into more of a grin. It's so familiar that Sirius emulates it automatically. "I'm sorry you died," James says, "but I'm so happy you're here."

    "Me too," Sirius says.

    James' smile goes soft again, and he gently brushes his fingers through Sirius' hair at one side, pushing it away from his face. "You look good," he says. "Haven't changed a bit."

    It hits Sirius then that James doesn't know what he looked like after Azkaban. Doesn't even know he was in Azkaban. To James, he must really look just like he did the last time they saw each other. "Being dead suits me," Sirius says.

    James grins again. "Me too," he says. "My vision's perfect now; I only wear the glasses because I think I'd look weird without them."

    "You would," Sirius agrees. "I might not've recognised you."

    James snorts. The kettle begins to whistle. James lets go of Sirius as though reluctant to do so, and he goes over to the stove. "D'you want some tea?"

    "Sure," Sirius says. He walks over while James opens up a cabinet to get out a box of tea. They've been apart for over a decade; now Sirius can't stand to have more than a couple feet between them.

    James sends him a quick smile before he places tea bags in two mugs the same colour as the living room walls. James pours water from the kettle over the tea bags and then sets the kettle back on a cold burner.

    He hands one mug to Sirius and leads the way to the round wooden dining table. A small milk pitcher sits in the middle of the table, and Sirius asks as he sits down, "was that there before?" His mug radiates warmth against his palms as they cup around it.

    James smiles across at him. "Nah, there's a different kind of magic here."

    "Oh," Sirius says. He looks at James, happy to just take in the sight of him. It's still hard to believe he's really there. "Milk pitchers appear out of thin air here but your hair still can't sit flat?"

    James laughs. "It's a part of me," he says. "Just like the glasses. Just like you."

    Sirius smiles. "I really missed you," he says.

    "I really missed you too," James says. "How did you die?" He asks as if he's been waiting for a right enough moment.

    "Lost a duel," Sirius says. There would be time for the full story later, but for now, he couldn't bear to break the peace and happiness of the moment. "I deserved it, really. Got cocky."

    "Sounds like you," James says with a soft chuckle. Sirius wonders if he'll ask about Harry or about Voldemort or about their friends, but he doesn't. Sirius suspects he wants to stay in the moment a while longer, too.

    "Is anyone else here?" Sirius asks. He doesn't care much about anyone else but James right now, but he's curious. There are other people he loves that have died.

    "My parents live in the house next door, and Lily lives down the street," James says.

    "Not here?" Sirius asks. They both know the question means something more than it sounds. Sirius suspects he already knows the answer; everything seems to make sense here, but he has to be sure.

    "No, not here," James says with a smile. "This is our house."

    "Ours," Sirius echoes. The word is a young soldier coming safely home from war.

    Sirius lifts the tea bag from his mug and it vanishes before he can wonder where to put it. James does the same, and adds a dash of milk to his mug as Sirius takes a sip from his. It's chamomile, his favourite, and it's the perfect drinking temperature.

    "I still think it's a crime to add milk to perfectly good tea," Sirius says, teasing.

    James snorts. "I still don't care what you think about how I drink my tea."

    Sirius smiles. He takes another sip of his tea and then sets the mug down on the table. "Will it get annoying if I keep telling you how much I missed you?"

    "Not at all," James says. He reaches across the table and covers Sirius' hand with his own. Sirius turns his and laces his fingers between James'. James smiles.

    "Good," Sirius says. "I'd keep telling you either way, though."

    "I don't doubt that," James says, squeezing Sirius' hand. "I'm just glad we'll never have to miss each other again."


End file.
